Deku-shrub who sought to apply lessons from the Pirate Party with whom he is still informally involved as liason

David Wood who founded the UK based Transpolitica think tank to seek to develop non-partisan transhumanist policy at the same time of the party's founding

Alex Karran who, prior to the official registration of the party, ran in the 2015 general election as an independent candidate, and as such is the first Transhumanist Party candidate to have contested an election[1][2]

The party held its first AGM in October 2015 where its first batch of policies were ratified. The following statement was agreed by a vote at the AGM:[4]

The Transhumanist Party’s ideological position is known as Social Futurism, which represents the integration of social and technological concerns. We adopt this position as a reminder that our central mission as a Transhumanist political party is to harness technological potential for the benefit of society.

On 12th October 2015 Transhumanist Party UK released a statement that "Zoltan Istvan does not speak for the Transhumanist Party" in response to his failure to engage with the wider community and transhumanist party movement.[5]

Reorganisation

In November 2016 the party announced[6] that two of its founders had resigned their roles - Amon Twyman and Dirk Bruere:

These resignations arise from the recognition that there are many drawbacks to creating and developing a new political party in the United Kingdom:

The “first past the post” electoral system makes it especially difficult for minority parties to win seats in parliament

Political parties need to establish a set of policies on a wide range of issues – issues away from the areas of core agreement among members, and where dissension can easily arise

The timescales spoken about for full electoral success – potentially up to 25 years – are far too far into the future, given all the other changes expected in the meantime.

Press releases

Press releases issued by the party include:

Universal Basic Income

The party welcomed the publication[7] of the RSA’s report “Creative citizen, creative state: the principled and pragmatic case for a Universal Basic Income”:

According to Transhumanist Party research and analysis, accelerating technological unemployment has the potential - within the next decade - to magnify social inequality, disruption and alienation. People who trained hard for new career opportunities may discover that their employment prospects have been overtaken by increasingly sophisticated robots, AIs, software, or other automation.

Dr Amon Twyman, Party Leader, commented:

“A new social contract is needed, involving strong educational and economic support for those who are left with no viable option of ‘earning a living’ due to rapid technological change. A UBI would provide an important part of this new social contract. The RSA’s advocacy of a UBI will help the task of the Transhumanist Party to bring about new political thinking in the UK that champions individual and social creativity.”

Psychoactive Substances Bill

The party criticised[8] the Psychoactive Substances Bill in the UK parliament:

The blanket ban undermines past and current research, and threatens the future development of other low risk, non-recreational drugs and supplements that can be of potential therapeutic benefit to citizens...

Gene editing of embryos

The party congratulated[9] the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on its foresight in allowing gene editing of embryos:

The Transhumanist Party views this decision as a key landmark in the progress towards a future in which hereditary diseases are eliminated. Furthermore, we see this decision as a vital first step in exploring and developing applications of the new, revolutionary and globally accessible genetic engineering tools that have become available over the past three years.

With such tools the human genome can be modified and enhanced not only to eliminate disease but to make significant progress towards the Transhumanist goal of citizens being “better than well”, wherein various traits such as resistance to all forms of disease, increased healthy longevity and improved cognitive ability can be emphasised to improve general health and happiness for all through all stages of life.

It is our vision that this technology be made accessible to all, and applied to the point where such historically divisive issues as race and gender become no more important than fashion choices on the road to becoming a posthuman species.

Prize challenge

The party announced in April 2017[10] that it is sponsoring a prize challenge during April and May 2017 for the best H+Pedia contributions on the topic of New Social Contract.